Cornelis Mahu

Cornelis Mahu (1613 – 16 November 1689) was a Flemish painter of still lifes, genre paintings and seascapes who showed a very high level of craftsmanship in his compositions.

Mahu was born in Antwerp. Nothing is known about his training before he became master of the Guild of St. Luke in 1638. In 1633 he married Brigitta Wolfvoet, who was the daughter of the painter and art dealer Victor Wolfvoet I and brother of the painter Victor Wolfvoet II. It is possible that his father-in-law was his master.

In addition to his son Victor, he had three pupils of whom Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen is the best known. His son Victor (c. 1665 – 1700/01) continued painting genre scenes in the style of his father.

Mahu died in Antwerp in 1689,

Mahu was a versatile painted who practiced in various genres including still lifes, genre scenes and seascapes. He was not always an original painter but showed a very high level of craftsmanship in his compositions.

An important influence on his still lifes were the monochromatic "breakfast pieces" (ontbijtjes) or 'banquet pieces' (banketjes) of the Haarlem school of still life painters such as Pieter Claesz and Willem Claeszoon Heda. He stressed realism in his still lifes. He also painted Flemish style still lifes more in the style of Jan Pauwel Gillemans the Elder.

A good example of his still lifes is the Still life with an orange on a pewter plate, a porcelain pitcher, a glass, bread and a box of tobacco on a table (sold at the De Jonckheer Master Paintings). It shows in its arrangement of the various elements an influence of the Haarlem style. The work captures the spectator’s eye with its vibrant contrasts of light and dark (chiaroscuro). The still life conveys the implicit message of vanitas so typical for northern European still lifes of the time. This message is conveyed through the usual symbols of the genre: the cut orange, which evokes the passing of life that is bitter in essence, and meaningless if not combined with a higher spiritual reality, and the burning candle, which inexorably measures time and the limits of our material and sensual aspirations.

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Wikipedia